LABOR EXPOPRT POILICY: SHAKY REGULATION AND PRIVATE MANAGEMENNT OF MIGRATION

LABOR EXPOPRT POILICY: SHAKY REGULATION AND  PRIVATE MANAGEMENNT OF MIGRATION

Temporary labor migration in the Philippines started in the 1950s, but it was not until the period 1974 to 1983 that the recruitment industry came into full swing.  This is due in large part to the fact that it was only in 1974 that the labor migration program of the Philippines was officially institutionalized, with the issuance of Presidential Decree 442, also known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.  Prior to this, private recruitment agencies facilitated small-scale migration almost exclusively to the United States. 

Even as the economy benefits from remittances from its migrant workers abroad, another beneficiary of the steady stream of workers leaving the country is the thriving recruitment industry back home.  In a given day, nearly 3,000 Filipinos leave the country for work abroad, almost all of whom go through private recruitment agencies.  Not surprisingly, the growth of the recruitment industry over the past three decades was nothing short of spectacular: from 44 agencies in 1974 to 3,168 agencies  in 2007.  

The POEA is primarily mandated to manage the country’s overseas employment program, including the regulation of private sector participation in recruitment and overseas placement (POEA).  In practice, this saw the POEA in charge of issuing licenses to recruitment agencies, monitoring their compliance with the rules and regulations governing overseas employment, hearing and arbitrating cases and complaints, and imposing disciplinary actions when necessary.  

A clear consequence of the involvement of the private sector is the growth in deployment figures.  The POEA admits that given its limited resources, it would not have hit its one million mark without the help of the private sector. In 2007, there were a total of 1,077,623 OFWs deployed making the Philippines the highest migrant-sending country in Asia.

The basic function of recruitment agencies is to match the requirements of the foreign employer to the worker and, ideally, vice versa.  Given the continuing demand for labor abroad and with nine out of ten Filipinos willing to work abroad, recruitment agencies are thrust an important role in bridging the pull and push factors of Filipino migration.

But like in other Asian countries, the recruitment industry in the Philippines has been responsible for a number of malpractices and infractions.  In fact, majority of cases filed at the POEA are against recruitment agencies. In 2007 alone, 59 percent of complaints are against recruiters.

The most common violations by recruitment agencies involved placement fees.  This includes such irregularities as illegal exaction of fees, excessive collection of fees, and non issuance of receipts.  Of cases pending before the POEA, roughly 78% were due to excessive placement fees.  

A survey report by the Mission for Migrant Workers shows that in the case of domestic workers in Hong Kong, majority of those employed via recruitment agencies had to pay three to four times the legal amount for placement fees[ in the POEA guidelines. Even after the placement fee on domestic workers was abolished in 2007, exorbitant placement fees are still being collected. 

Aside from cases of overcharging, illegal recruitment cases are also high, with 1,624 cases handled by the POEA in 2007